It's another installment of What's Annoying Me Lately!

I know, I know; someone on the web does this better than I, but she has her peeves, and I have mine.

Octo-Mom. You might be crazy if: your own parents go on Oprah to tell the world that you are crazy. Besides the hilarious moniker which sounds like a certain villain from a Spider Man comic, O.M. is no longer amusing. According to her dad, she would say at each of her pregnancies, "I promise, this is the last one!" Lady, they are not potato chips. I just wonder, if the doctors deem it acceptable to artificially knock her up time and time again, could they possibly bring her back to the hospital, drug her up, and close her uterus or something? Is that really so much worse than what has already been done?

Conservatives. They're planning a comeback, y'all! And there's nothing America loves more than a good comeback. Don't you love how they found the Republican version of Barak Obama in Gov. Jindal? Except, he looks like a tan Kenneth the Page and has absolutely nothing to say. He's like Bizarro Obama. (Again with the Superheroes...) And boy, they are really knocking it out of the park with the Governors. As long as Limbaugh and Romney (the Stormin' Mormon) are heading up this movement with slogans like "Conservatives Love People," then we could at least be in for a comedic comeback. Ah, but I do miss the days of rich comic material from Capitol Hill.

The ever swinging pendulum of inane food studies. I know this is not a recent trend, but just this last week on morning TV (I know), I heard about how moderate drinking can cause breast cancer in women, frozen vegetables are better for you than fresh vegetables, and calories are a more important factor in dieting than fat or carbs. I don't want to discount health studies, but they are not all created equal. I pine for a culture that is not so hyperactive about every item of food that goes into its mouth and can simply enjoy the normal, moderate pleasures of eating and drinking. It also doesn't help that on these morning shows they are yapping one minute about how organic peas can kill you, and then, after a commercial break, they're snarfing down Martha Stewart's chocolate cake or guacamole like there's no tomorrow.

Morning TV Shows. I'm still undecided about which major network has the least annoying morning news. Since I've cut the cable, I'm stuck with only a handful of channels, and while I don't really miss cable (maybe a little bit), I have a hard time stomaching Al Roker's mug mooning back at me every morning, or Ann Curry's self important journalist act, or even Diane Sawyer dressing like she's still 30. If I'm still puttering around by the time Regis and Kelly come on, I can tolerate them for a while. That is probably not a good sign.

Spinach Daquiri

Mr. P has introduced me to a new drink: a spinach and banana smoothie that I have dubbed the "Spinach Daquiri." I can't wait to host a party where I call out to our guests: "Who wants another spinach daquiri? Virgin or alcoholic?" And they will all clamor for more.

Because the Spinach Daquiri is delicious.

All you do is mix up about 1 - 2 cups of spinach (about 1/2 the blender) with one banana, and about 1/2 cup of water (just to give it a little bit of liquid, but not too much). Then you drink it. It's that easy! And it tastes like... well, you be the judge. You may be surprised.

Tasty, easy, vegetarian. What's not to love?

To give credit where credit is due, Mr. P found out about the drink from this site. The name, however, is my own.

Me Cook Good (sometimes)

I'm not much of a cook, really. I'm a bit of a spaz in the kitchen, and often, I catch something on fire. I enjoy cooking, but I didn't grow up in a gastronomic family, and despite my enjoyment for eating, I've never had a natural sense for what flavors work well together, what happens chemically to ingredients mixed together, or how to create a dish from a few random foods found in the refrigerator. However, in mere survivalist form, I have learned how to whip up a few things, and the few dishes or items I know are pretty tasty.

Here are just a few:

1. Chicken Soup

2. hot chocolate (just a little bit spicy, a la mexicaine)

3. omlette (only recently learned that 3 eggs are better than 2)

4. pommes de terre au gratin (Or: potatoes au gratin) (I learned it in France, and they have better cream there. No, seriously, they do. But it still works here)

5. red cabbage (this one is a bit of a surprise to me)

6. ratatouille (Even if you speak French, it’s still hard to say)

While it snows outside and Mr. P and I nurse our new colds (yes, I have another cold, hooray!), I have been working on perfecting my chicken soup recipe. Actually, I don't have a recipe, so technically, I am perfecting my first recipe of chicken soup. Good news, though: I did it. I made a chicken soup that is both delicious and nutritious, and it's not disgusting to look at, either. Here it is (sorry, my vegetarian friends):

Quesadelia's Chicken Soup

Ingredients

1 whole small chicken
liquid chicken broth (about 1 liter)
1 onion
1 small bunch of carrots (fresh, with greens)
a few hearts of celery
butter
5 small Yukon Gold potatoes
your choice of spices (parsley, thyme, salt, pepper... etc)

1. Remove packaged giblets from inside the chicken. Cut whole chicken up into about 4 - 5 pieces, but do not remove skin or bones; keep the chicken intact. Place in a large pot and cover with liquid chicken broth and water.

2. Bring chicken and water to boil, then let simmer for at least one hour or hour and a half. Frequently skim fat off top of water with a skimmer.

3. While the chicken cooks, prepare your mirepoix: finely chop an entire onion and add to a few tablespoons of melted butter in a saute pan. Saute the onions until they are soft, then add a few, finely chopped carrots and celery hearts. Carrots do not need to be peeled, but you will need to remove their greens. Mirepoix ratio should be: 50% onion, 25% carrots, 25% celery.

4. After the chicken has cooked for a while, remove the chicken (or chicken parts) from the stock, and cut the meat from the bones. Remove the skin as well. Place just the meat back into the stock.

5. Place your prepared mirepoix into the stock with the chicken meat.

6. Peel and chop potatoes into nice, bite-sized pieces, and add to the soup.

7. Season the soup with salt, pepper, and your choice of spices, such as thyme, parsley, dill, and/or juniper.

Soup does not need to cook much longer, just long enough to cook the potatoes. Then you can enjoy a nice, hearty, wintry soup. It will make your cold feel better; it will also make you feel happier.